Caregiver Relief Podcast

The podcast discusses the importance of understanding Medicare coverage for aging loved ones. The host and guest, Tracy Lawrence, discuss the Good Kids Club, a private Facebook group for adult children caring for aging parents. The conversation then turns to a post in the group that discussed insurance denial of coverage, specifically Medicare coverage. Tracy emphasizes the importance of having th...

In this podcast, host Diane Carbo and end-of-life specialist Pat Deegan discuss the stages of death and dying. The conversation begins with Carbo sharing a personal story about her experience with a pet who had multiple seizures and the questions that arose while filling out the necessary paperwork for emergency care. This story leads into a discussion about the way our culture views death, and th...

The podcast features Tracey S. Lawrence, the founder of Grand Family Planning and author of the book "Dementia Sucks", discussing the challenges of caring for a loved one with dementia. Both the hosts and Lawrence agree that dementia is a tough disease to grapple with, but the ability to laugh helps make the day so much easier. Lawrence also emphasizes that dementia is not a linear disease and tha...

The podcast features Kim Doviak van Hassell, a caregiver coach and a contributor to the podcast. Kim is an only child who helped both of her parents stay together during their decline. Kim's parents were married for 62 years, and they were always in love, working hard at their relationship. Kim's mother was a nurse and took care of her father, who had heart disease, for many years. When Kim's moth...

In this podcast, Diane Carbo interviews Pat Deegan, an end-of-life specialist, to discuss the importance of healthcare directives and end-of-life planning. The conversation begins with an explanation of life-sustaining measures and curative care. Life-sustaining measures are medical treatments intended to prolong life rather than treat an underlying condition, while curative care aims to cure dise...

In this podcast transcript, Diane Carbo and Tracey Lawrence discuss the topic of guilt in caregiving. They highlight that caregivers often experience guilt over silly things, such as questioning if they made the right choices or feeling guilty for taking respite time. They argue that guilt is a useless emotion that negates all the positive things caregivers do and can be a motivator for positive c...

In this podcast, Alicia Martel, an end-of-life specialist, deaf doula, and caregiver coach, discusses the challenges of telling a person with dementia about the death of a loved one. She shares her personal experience of telling her father, who has a slow progressing form of dementia, about the death of his goddaughter. Alicia highlights the difficulty in delivering bad news to someone with dement...

The podcast discusses multitasking and how it affects the health of caregivers. The speakers, Diane Carbo and Tracy S. Lawrence, explain that multitasking is a myth and that people should focus on one task at a time to be more productive. They discuss the responsibilities of caregivers and how they need to take care of themselves, too. They also explain that technology is changing people's brains...

The episode discusses the dying process and anticipatory grief. Diane Carbo, an end-of-life specialist, and Pat Deegan, an ex-hospice nurse, share their views on how hospitals view death as a failure, and how modern medicine can give people false hope with light-altering treatments. The sudden deaths that mourners have to face cause their grief process to take years as they don't have time to prep...

The conversation is about hospice care and the experiences of caregivers and patients with hospice. Diane Carbo shares her positive experience with hospice care for her father, but also acknowledges that others have had negative experiences. Betsy Wurzel shares her negative experience with hospice care for her husband, who had Alzheimer's and experienced terminal agitation. She felt unsupported an...

The podcast features Alycia Martel, a caregiver coach, end of life specialist, death doula, and podcast contributor, who is actively caring for her father with dementia. In a car accident over three years ago, she was diagnosed with a TBI, traumatic brain injury, and post-concussive syndrome, affecting her motor skills, speech, cognitive function, memory, and vision. Despite this, she continues to...

In this podcast transcript, Diane Carbo, a caregiver relief expert, speaks with Betsy Wurzel, a dementia care specialist and caregiver coach, about medication management for elderly individuals. Wurzel notes the risks associated with certain medications when exposed to heat and sunlight and reminds listeners to hydrate loved ones and keep them in cool environments. The two also discuss the importa...

In this podcast, Diane Carbo, a caregiver, talks to Pat Deegan, a registered nurse and end-of-life consultant, about the importance of planning for end-of-life care. They discuss the problem with not taking the steps to make wishes known and the importance of having communication about final wishes. Deegan stresses the importance of advanced directives, living wills, and medical power of attorney,...

In this podcast, Diane Carbo and Alicia Martel discuss caregiver isolation and loneliness, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic. Caregivers often experience social isolation over time as friends and family slowly drop back from involvement, but the pandemic caused a sudden retreat to homes and physical isolation. This has led to increased stress, depression, and mental illness. The rates of s...

This episode discusses advanced directives, which are important for setting goals and plans with respect to medical treatment, and they are evolving plans that change over time. The hosts emphasize the importance of ongoing conversations on end-of-life issues and give insights into different types of advanced directives such as the five wishes, which cover desires for natural death. They also disc...

The conversation is between Diane Carbo and Alycia Martel, and they are discussing Alycia's experience as a caregiver for her father who has dementia. Alycia shares her experience of taking her father to the hospital after he showed symptoms of COVID-19. She talks about being her father's conservator, which means she is responsible for his medical and financial affairs. She advises caregivers to k...

Thank you for sharing this conversation between Diane Carbo and Betsy Wurzel about caregiving during the holidays. They discussed the importance of focusing on spending time with loved ones instead of trying to make everything perfect. They also emphasized the need to be flexible and adjust plans as necessary, as well as to educate family members about the individual needs of the person with demen...